ACV for Pigs

How to Feed Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) 

to Livestock

The method of feeding apple cider vinegar depends on the type of livestock, the quantity of ACV to be administered, and your current infrastructure or management system. Regardless of how you deliver ACV to livestock, it is important to feed in a way that ensures animals get the desired dosage.

• When mixing in water tank, add 1-2 cups of ACV / 20 gallons of water -- Use this method if this is the only water source. 

• For treatment: the standard dosage is 1 oz per 100# of body weight

• Can also be sprinkled directly onto hay, silage or concentrate feed

For therapeutic indications, try a free choice container such as a rubber pan with a 50/50 ACV and water mix. 

For increased palatability, and as a powerful energy booster,  mix with liquid molasses, varying from 30% ACV to 70%. Increasing the molasses proportion will increase energy and palatability, it will also prevent freezing in the winter. Both ACV and molasses improve average daily gains and milk production. 

Adding to Feed

Our method, and probably the most common, is to simply add ACV to the daily feed ration. You don't need to invest in a new system or equipment for ACV to work well. 

Grind Feed

One option is to simply add ACV to the grind mixture.

TMR Wagon

We use a TMR wagon and add ACV when feeding. Our system is large and we pump the vinegar directly into the TMR. Alternatively, you can use a bucket to add ACV over a loader bucket of grain, soyhulls or silage, then put it in the TMR wagon.

Water Tank

Another easy option is to add ACV to the water tanks you are currently using. The size of your water tank determine how often you will need to add ACV. Larger tanks will only require adding it once a day. Smaller tanks will require adding ACV multiple times per day. The key is determining how fast the water turns over and how often you'll need to administer the ACV to achieve the desired dosage.

Free Choice

One option for this method is adding ACV to a 200-gallon lick tank then diluting it with water or molasses to maintain the desired dosage. We recommend putting a semi tire around the lick tank so the livestock won't tip it over.

Injection System Into Water Line

You may also inject ACV into your water line, if you have one. An added benefit of this method is the ACV will help keep your water line clean. Make sure you check with local regulations to ensure it is possible to do this. Some customers have informed us that they weren't allowed to inject ACV into their water lines.

Suggested Dosage Rates

Source: "Apple Cider Vinegar Stories" - Will Winter, D.V.M.

• • • If possible mix 8-16 oz (1-2 cups) ACV with 20 gallons of  drinking water. Or offer in pan free-choice 50/50 with water

• • Mix with molasses too (see above)

  • Goal:  ½ - 2 oz ACV/head/day

Source: www.crossgatesbioenergitics.com

• Sows 500ml (17 oz) per sow/week in order to achieve right balance, then 250ml (8.5 oz) per sow/week or 30ml (~1 oz) per day

• Pigs -- All others 50ml (1.7 oz) per day

• Piglets from 6 weeks 10-15ml (1/3 oz - 1/2 oz) daily

Source: www.coraltree.co.nz

• New Zealand trials show that the daily administration of 25ml of ACV to sows prior to farrowing and throughout weaning resulted in the elimination of mastitis in sows, elimination of scouring in piglets, a slight increase in litter size over time. 

• Breeders observed improved piglet survival and weight gains.

• They also report that dosing with ACV as an alternative to antibiotic treatment for mastitis and diarrhoea, has yielded outstanding results. 

Source: "Apple Cider Vinegar Stories" - Will Winter, D.V.

• Pig farmers in AR began mixing 3 gallons of ACV per ton of hog feed. They compared several hundred baby pigs that received the vinegar to a matching batch that had everything else the same, but without the vinegar. The vinegar-fed pigs weighed 20% more at weaning and finished to slaughter weight a staggering 3 weeks earlier than their non-vinegarized pigs. 

• A researcher at the University of WI confirmed the results seen with the hogs when exploring the digestibility of their newly developed variety of floury corn (as opposed to the standard flinty dent corn). When they added vinegar to the ground corn it began to digest away the prolamines, the protein of the endosperm, releasing at least 20% more starch (energy). This applies to all livestock eating silage, or other grain-bearing rations.